RECENT WATCHES: Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Until someone else manages to pull off a proper cinematic universe, “Avengers: Endgame” stands as a unique achievement. It is the culmination of eleven years worth of work. It is a three hour epic that calls back, in one way or another, to twenty-one previous movies. This, hypothetically, should be the most niche project possible, something so inside-baseball that it would only appeal to a small fan base of comic book devotees. Instead, “Endgame” became the highest grossing film in cinema history. Marvel somehow managed to get millions of people all over the world invested in this deep nerd shit, creating the most massive of event films on the back of a decade of event films of smaller but still large size.

The Avengers lost. Thanos, using the power of the Infinity Stone, destroyed half of all life in the universe with a snap of his fingers. They hunt him down on a distant planet but find that he's already destroyed the Stones, preventing the heroes from undoing his goal. Five years pass. The remaining Avengers try to hold on the best they can. That is when Ant-Man returns from the Quantum Realm. He explains that time passes differently in the Quantum Realm and that time travel may be possible this way. Tony Stark and Bruce Banner managed to conceive of a plan to go back int time and retrieve the Infinity Stones before Thanos gets his hands on them. Yet this Time Heist is fraught with danger, a most dangerous face from the past returning with the Avengers.

By moving the story ahead after that brief first act, “Endgame” begins its story in the most interesting emotional place for its heroes. The focus is not on revenge, as would usually be the case in a narrative like this. Thanos is dead but his actions cannot be undone. Instead, “Endgame's” story forces its superheroic leads to grapple with guilt. Thor retreats into misery. Cap remains focused on the jobs that still need to be done, though is privately filled with regret. Tony moves on from the costumed vigilante life. This kind of emotion is not typically seen in superhero flicks, where the heroes are usually only delayed or dismayed for a short while before striking back. It is, admittedly, a fairly bold place to begin your mega-budget giant blockbuster.

Much like in “Infinity War,” the Russo brothers and their team of Marvel screenwriters put together another ludicrously convoluted plot that, somehow, never looses the viewer. Once the Time Heist begins, as in the previous “Avengers” film, the audience is asked to follow several groups of heroes on separate adventures across time and space. This premise is complicated even more by the knotty principals of time travel. Once the Nebula from the future gets tossed in with the Nebula from the past, still aligned with Thanos, the plot threatens to spin out of control. A deft management of editing and writing keeps the huge story of “Endgame,” with the myriad of goals it has, balanced and coherent.

“Infinity War” featured easily the most enormous action scenes up to that point in the Marvel franchise. “Endgame” manages to be even more enormous than the previously huge action scenes. The film concludes with a massive war sequence, practically every hero from all twenty-one movies coming together to fight off Thanos' army. A large chunk of the movie's last third is devoted to this sequence, beginning with Avengers HQ being blown to smithereens and concluding with an army dissolving into dust. There's so much going on that it threatens to overwhelm the viewer. Yet by keeping the focus on the individuals, the action tows the line. This climatic orgy of destruction is, of course, only one part of the massive action. The revisit to the first “Avengers'” Battle of New York features its share of explosion and chaos too.

More than anything else, perhaps, “Endgame” is filled with moments designed to make fanboys cheer in utter joy. Some of these are relatively low-key conversations. Like Bruce Banner making peace with the Hulk, bringing the much loved “Professor Hulk” persona to the screen for the first time. (Revealed in a hilarious moment in a dinner.) Or the conversation he has with the Ancient One, convincing her to hand over the Time Stone strictly with the power of logic. If you ever wondered what happened immediately after the end of the first “Avengers,” or who would win in a fight between Hawkeye and Black Widow, the film answers that question too. But most of them are pay-offs on moments the MCU has teased for years: Captain America wielding Mjoliner, finally yelling for the Avengers to assemble, the much anticipated return of everyone lost in the last entry, Pepper Potts donning the Rescue armor, or a final line of dialogue that brings the whole universe full-circle. Let me tell you, when I saw the film in the theater, during the pause between “Avengers” and “assemble,” you could've heard a pin drop.

As much as I obviously enjoy this stuff, the smaller moments in “Endgame” prove to have just as much impact. Tony's interaction with his daughter is adorable, especially his bedtime story or her response to his discovery of time travel. When reunited with Spider-Man, he gives the teen hero the hug he's wanted for years. Scot Lang gets a similarly touching reunion with his now-teenage daughter Cassie. Or Hawkeye's initial trip back in time, nearly meeting again with his own kids. Despite its grim setting, “Endgame” has a lot of comedy. These scenes are also crowd-pleasing. Korg and Miek's surprise reintroduction is among my favorite, as are hilarious reoccurring gags about Cap's ass, his trademark line, or some tacos.

“Endgame” is also all too aware of its status as the cap-off to the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, or at least its first decade. The film provides cathartic moments of closure to three of its biggest heroes. During a time travel side trip, Tony Stark gets to resolve all the tension he's ever had with his Dad. By far my favorite is Thor getting one more heart-to-heart with his mother, capped with a touching scene where he discovers he's still worthy despite being caught in the throes of his depression. The most extensive of these closures concerns Captain America finally getting the happy ending he's long-deserved. These moments are digressions, truthfully, but welcomed ones. After ten years of build-up, Marvel earned these moments and I don't mind a three hour run time to allow for them.

Some of these stories are brought to more definitive conclusions than others. Though many of the deaths depicted over this two parter were impermanent, some are obviously designed to stick. Tony Stark goes out as gracefully as possible and the film devotes much pomp-and-circumstance to his passing. It's well done, even if the Marvel universe has increasingly ignored Stark's shortcoming. Less satisfying is Black Widow's passing. Though much emotion is invested in the build-up scene, and the aftermath, her exit can't help but feel somewhat blunt. After the mishandling of her character in “Age of Ultron,” it feels like Marvel's most prominent female hero once again got shafted.

There are certainly nitpicks you can make about “Endgame.” This being such a massively popular film, people certainly did. The exact detail of Cap's retirement not making much sense being the main one. But, really, who cares when the emotional pay-off is so hefty? “Endgame” handles most of its conclusions with grace. Even Thanos, far more sinister and mad this time around, gets a moment to reflect on his failures. Many will consider “Endgame” hopelessly excessive, an act of self-congratulation from the biggest studio in the world to the biggest franchise in the world. Yet, for those that have followed these stories and grown attached to these characters, “Endgame” represents about as ideal a send-off as possible. It's big, ridiculous comic book stuff for overgrown kids but, hey, I'm an overgrown kid too. [9/10]